Three men charged with assaulting the CEO of a controversial off-shore group of companies formerly based in The Bahamas will appear before a court in Canada on Wednesday.
Norshield Financial Group CEO John Xanthoudakis was reportedly assaulted by the men last November because their investments with his company went down the drain, a police officer told a reporter at The Gazette, a Canadian daily.
Mr Xanthoudakis’ company once boasted assets of over $1 billion, but late last year it was disclosed in the Ontario Superior Court that millions of dollars in investments in the company were not recoverable. It was shortly after this disclosure that the assault on Mr Xanthoudakis occurred by the men who are also reportedly linked to organised crime.
The Montreal Gazette reported that the Norshield Financial Group has been in receivership since June of 2005, with one receiver estimating that investors in the company stood to lose $482 million collectively.
Last June the Quebec Superior Court recognised the order of the Ontario Superior Court appointing RSM Richter Inc. as the receiver of the Norshield Group, with the power to carry out any duty stipulated in the order.
The companies under the Norshield Group which the order relates to include Norshield Asset Management (Canada) Ltd, Norshield Investment Partners Holdings Ltd, Olympus United Fund Holdings Corporation, Olympus United Funds Corporation, Olympus United Group Inc., and Olympus United Bank and Trust SCC.
Some of these companies were incorporated with the Registrar General’s Department, and had their registered office and agent listed with a Bahamian-based offshore company that closed its doors in December 2004.
“This court appointment is the result of the ongoing collaboration by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and the Autorite des marches financiers (AMF) to provide protection to investors and promote the integrity of our capital markets,” said a statement in a communication from the OSC last June.
It is believed that most of the money invested in Norshield was routed to Barbados and The Bahamas. It was further reported that Mr Xanthoudakis’ group of companies did not invest most of the money
it received, Included in the first report of the receiver last July was the statement, “It appears as if the Norshield Group conducted its affairs in an extremely complex manner involving numerous companies and entities and that funds originating from the Retail Investors and other investors were widely invested in off-shore jurisdictions.”
Securities regulators and the Quebec authorities are still investigating the “money-management company”.
The men were charged assault and uttering death threats to Mr Xanthoudakis near Place Ville Marie and as a result of police investigations, were picked up by the authorities on March 8, but were subsequently released on a promise that they would appear for their court date this week.
The Nassau Guardian
